Founded in 1997, the locally owned and operated City Paper is Charleston's only weekly alternative newspaper and the second-largest publication in the metro Charleston area. Reaching a strong mix of active, affluent locals and tourists, the City Paper has thrived...

Get ready, Charleston. If the organizers behind the Charleston International Film Festival achieve their goals, our little town may one day be home to a film festival on the scale of Tribeca, Sundance, and Cannes. "We want to be the biggest, best festival on the East Coast," says board member Margaret Ford Rogers.

The local dance scene is going through a rough patch. The two companies that have carried the community for decades are in flux. Robert Ivey Ballet is adjusting to new management after Ivey, a major figure in the local arts world, passed away late last summer. And the Charleston Ballet Theatre rang in its 25th anniversary season with a slew of board resignations, talk of financial mismanagement, and accusations of plagiarism — and some are wondering if the company can even recover.

As fascinating — and maddening — as it can be watching the arguments that emerge between the fans and detractors of any given filmmaker, it can be almost more fascinating watching fans argue amongst themselves.

For 11 days in Utah's mountains in January, not a flake of precipitation fell on the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. And the cheery blue skies could not possibly have been a better match for the mood of the festival's best films.

Uncomfortable as it may be, McQueen skips the history lesson and achieves a visceral experience that will surely be known as the definitive moral rendering of an era that should only be recalled with remorse and shame.